Driving in / holidaying in France - admin experts assemble and assist!

[rollonsweetsummertime]

I am just having a last minute flap as I'm driving to France with kids next week for the first time - i feel like we never really did this as a kid either, so I'm flapping slightly!

I have:
Insurance printed out
Driver kit with First Aid pack, bulbs, triangles, UK magnet AND sticker visors headline deflectors
ferry info
eurocamp info
travel insurance stuff
just applied for GHIC in a panic

Have:
spf
aftersun with insect repellent
All the usual clothes
books, entertainment
just ordered a travel plug

Give me your best advice! Drive on the right, anti-clockwise round roundabouts, buying all the cheese/wine/petit whatever shower stuff - all of this kind of info welcomed.

other french flappers welcomed too.

Is the car yours or do you need to request the form from the lease company?

Have you double checked Europe is covered on your insurance?

Checked your oil, tyres, coolant and got spare to top up if required?

Out of my arse, I think the form is like a v103?!

No need for the tag at all then.... it usually only takes a minute or two, if not straight through

Have you got the anti dazzle stickers to put on your headlights? Mandatory.

Yes you'll need a crit air sticker for Rouen if you go through there. 68 euro fine for not displaying. Is 5 euros online. I applied yesterday and got an email today to say it's been dispatched.

You need to upload the page of your V5 with all the details on fyi.

If it doesn't arrive on time you might get away with showing them an email as it has an attachment of your application and sticker class on there.

We live in France for part of the year. You don't need a breathalyser kit, so don't worry about that.

Toll tags make life much easier for journeys where youll be driving considerable distances on toll roads, so you could think about it for another trip. At some péages you don't even need to stop with a tag, you just slow to 30km/hr and the barrier opens.

We use Emovis. Familiarise yourself with which toll lanes you can use - don't go to the ones marked 't' as they are for tags.

As someone has said, check if you need a Crit'Air sticker, more on getting one here: https://certificat-air.gouv.fr/certificat/demande/ext/vehicules

Also remember that police carry out routine stops and breathalyser checks. I've had one of each in the last year, don't be alarmed if they do stop you.

The crit air sticker arrived very quickly for our last trip, 3 days, very impressed with how quick it was, plus it was so cheap to get it was worth it to take the worry out of getting any fines.

The bip and go was fantastic. We didn't stick it on the windscreen just kept it in the cubby and held it up at the peage, worked fine and saved time.

We travel during the week, far less traffic.

I've just thought of something random - bring paracetamol and ibuprofen with you. You can only buy them at pharmacies here, which is a pain (literally) if it's lunchtime or a Sunday and they're shut, as they are where we are.

Definitely apply for the crit air, I was re routed through Rouen because of road works, think it’s €4, otherwise a £68 fine I think. Have your V5 doc handy when filling it in, has all the details you need. The document takes about a week to come , I just printed it off from the email they sent me.
UK not GB sticker on your car.
definitely a tag fir the rolls, would have been a right pain if I’d have to get out of the car to pay at the other side.
change your speedometer to kph.
Make sure you know what you’re doing at roundabouts, French drivers don’t tend to indicate at them.
parking is very reasonable in Normandy. Download the pay by phone app, a life saver when parking in busy areas overnight and paid parking starts at 9am, just take note of the parking location and pay as your eating breakfast!

Don't drive in backless shoes like flip flops. Don't eat or drink while driving.

Driving here is a dream.

Make sure you know what you’re doing at roundabouts, French drivers don’t tend to indicate at them.

It's funny you say that as we find the exact opposite. Where we are, everyone indicates, and I'm always reminding DH as he doesn't always do it.

This is all fab, thanks. Don’t need critair this time as literally just driving to small campsite from ferry but if this all goes okay I would really love to do more ambitious locations in france and so this peage/critair info is invaluable. Have got all the insurance breakdown cover v5 etc, just need to do oil/tyres/screen wash etc.

got the rac French driving kit and enough reflective things.

def saving this post forever!